As they did not use any pistols nor assaulted any bank branch. The heist was just clean, but this incident shows a sophisticated move by the group of criminals who stole the critical card data. After hacking a South African bank and obtaining data from 1,600 accounts of the entity, the thieves used this information to their own hand made credit cards, which work as the key to access the other people’s money and it was only the last step which converts the virtual money into tickets. Hence, for that, they chose the 24-hour supermarkets chain which is well known in Japan and whose machines accept the foreign cards. The Japanese police explained that the robbery took place simultaneously in 1,400 ATMs placed in small convenience 24 hours stores across Japan, as some popular establishments that have automatic cash dispensers around the country. As reported by the Japanese news agency Kyodo, explaining that about 14,000 operations were performed, 100,000 yen (about 811 euros at current exchange rates), bringing the total loot would have exceeded the amount 11 million euros. Japanese police revealed that the cashiers carried six cards which were suspected as abnormal consumption, now the Japanese police reviewing the security cameras establishments to try to confirm their suspicions that the assailants belong to a “well organized” Malaysian criminal group and sought on an international level. The Standard Bank Group acknowledged in a statement that “They had taken quick action to curb the problem and have also alerted the Japanese authorities”. The Japan is not the first coordinated tellers or the largest amount theft victim. Now the reports also leaked that last year this group of cyber criminals had sacked 900 million euros from hundred banks penetrating their systems and programs. Hence, ATMs were looted several times a day to dispense the money, that also without entering any card.
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